Gadsby-Dolly thanks students, teachers, parents as SEA conducted successfully

Minister of Education Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly said she had not received news of any challenges on Thursday ahead of the Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA) exams.

In a statement, Gadsby-Dolly later said, “The Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA) 2021 Examinations held today, Thursday July 1, 2021, was implemented without any major disruptions.

“From all reports the examinations were conducted with no major hiccups, and I would like to thank all principals, teachers, monitors, school supervisors, the National Maintenance Training and Security company, the Ministry of Health and our very own Ministry of Education District Health Unit and support staff in their roles in the implementation of the SEA Examinations.”

She also expressed her gratitude to the ministry, parents, and teachers for being able to proceed with the exams, despite the many challenges posed by the covid19 pandemic.

Gadsby-Dolly visited San Juan Seventh Day Adventist Primary School and Tranquillity Government Primary School in Port of Spain on Thursday morning to ensure health protocols were met ahead of students’ arrival.

Speaking to the media at Tranquillity Government, Gadsby-Dolly said the schools were in a full state of preparedness for the exams and all protocols were in place.

“The children seem to be happy to be out today, so are the parents,” she said. “It’s been an uncertain time for our students who have not been in school since March 2020…We at the ministry are very happy to have the exams completed.”

Gadsby-Dolly said she had a brief chat with a few of the students. “They are all very excited and they are ready to go.”

Tranquillity Government principal Nicole Guy-Dunbar said, although there were some challenges during the year including students without devices and connectivity, with donations and support from the ministry and stakeholders, the school student body is now 75 per cent connected. She said she was hoping for full connectivity in the upcoming academic year.

Guy-Dunbar thanked teachers and parents for their support in the preparation of students for the exam.

“The minister has motivated our students, so I am expecting SEA success for my students,” she said.

Guy-Dunbar said policy documents from the ministry outlining the reopening of schools together with examination protocols were combined to create a safe environment for students. “We married both and, today, you can see evidence of planning.”

She said, at the end of the exam, students would remain in their seats until their parents returned and would be individually escorted off the compound by a tester.

She said 63 students were writing exams at the school on Thursday.

Gadsby-Dolly said concessions were made for some students at the school who required special needs.

This year, an estimated 400 special-needs students benefited from concessions such as extra time, sign language interpretation, and large print or Braille scripts.

A total of 19,651 students were registered to write the exam. Of those, 18,587 will write in Trinidad and 1,064 in Tobago. She said 9,904 of the students were male and 9,747 were female.

She also said the ministry’s decision to reopen physical classrooms in September will be guided by the health circumstances at the time and following the advice of the Ministry of Health.

She said, however, discussions with stakeholders have already begin to put together a guideline document for the reopening.

“The Prime Minister has spoken very clearly on the hope that this would happen, so we are working with that in mind.”